This week’s edition of the NHL Three Stars of the Week had that special playoff flavor to it and Sabres forward Thomas Vanek led the way as the number one star of the week. Vanek helped the Sabres into the playoffs this past week and had a pair of three point games. Vanek’s hat trick against Tampa Bay and his game winning goal along with two assists against Philadelphia helped put the Sabres into the playoffs. Vanek sat out against Columbus in their season finale. Two games and six points is pretty sexy nonetheless and now Vanek will lead the Sabres against the Flyers in the postseason. The Flyers will be hoping he got all that scoring out of his system last week.

Vincent Lecavalier finished the week with four goals and an assist while leading the Lightning to the fifth seed in the East and helping Tampa Bay go 2-1-0 on the week. Lecavalier is the Lightning captain and his scoring has picked up at the right time of year. He’s not the 100 points per season Vinny anymore, but his work in support of Martin St. Louis and Steve Stamkos is solid and they’re hoping that his Stanley Cup experience can help them go deep in the playoffs.

Dan Ellis may not be the guy that Ducks fans expected to help them secure the fourth seed in the Western Conference, but they’re happy he did. Ellis’ week going 2-0-0 with a 1.21 goals against average and a .964 save percentage in three appearances last week helped him land as the third star of the week. Ellis now heads into the playoffs looking like he might just be their starter against his former team in Nashville. With Ray Emery hobbled and Jonas Hiller slow in returning to form from vertigo, Ellis could very well be the man in goal. He’ll need to be strong to put up with Nashville in the playoffs.